


Year 30

by thepsychicwolf



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe: the Hales are alive, Future Fic, M/M, The Hales are Alive, sterek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 10:41:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1601978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepsychicwolf/pseuds/thepsychicwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a werewolf turns 30 years old, they go through the Reverie. The second they turn thirty, they fall into a trance, a state of dreaming for just an hour, and during this hour, they are in the bodies of their soul mate. On Derek's thirtieth birthday, he finds himself placed in Stiles Stilinski, a boy who he hasn't seen in years.<br/>(Basically Derek figures out that Stiles is his soul mate and so he goes to New York City to go see him. Stiles works with Derek's family, and they already treat him as a part of the pack, which Derek hasn't felt connected to in years since everyone moved to NYC, leaving him in California where he has a job as a teacher.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Year 30

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Derek greets, flashing Laura his best smile as he stands in her doorway. He knows well, from past experiences, not to just give her his usual glare because she'll presently slam the door in his face and make him wait outside for fifteen minutes to "think about the children." He holds up the presents for Laura's son, Mateo.

  
Cheerful, Laura lets him in. As he places the presents down, she tackles him with a good, tight, sisterly hug. "Hey Der," She grins into his shoulder. He remembered not to wear a white shirt this time because Laura is always wearing red lipstick that somehow manages to find its way onto the white, ruining it as she gives him her hugs. "We're so happy that you're here! Everyone is coming in about half an hour. You have to help set the table, otherwise, we have no work for you, sorry."

  
Laura's husband, Ethan, comes to the door to greet Derek as well. He gives him a quick hug, telling him, "It's great you could make it. Laura is always complaining about how she misses her little brother. Cora on the other hand..."

  
Laura beams as Cora yells from the kitchen, "I missed him too! I just didn't show it!"

  
Derek shakes head as he picks up his bags but Ethan prevents him from doing so. "I'll put these in your room for you. Go be with your sisters."

  
Before Derek can protest, Laura drags him into the kitchen where Cora is finishing up the Thanksgiving dinner; Mateo sits on the island, playing with a little stuffed animal that to Derek seems to be a walrus.

  
"That's not the shirt we sent you," Cora frowns as she turns to Derek, holding a knife in her hand which would be threatening if she weren't so petite in comparison to him.

  
"I wasn't going to wear a really nice shirt like that on the plane. I am going to change right before the guests come." He can't help but smile at the idea of the guests because that means that Stiles is going to be here.

 

"Why are you so smiley? Stop it. It's worrying me," Cora mumbles as Derek steps towards her and places a kiss on her cheek.

  
She turns back to the oven while Derek smiles at Mateo, who's beaming up at him with those big azure eyes of his. "I don't know," Derek lies as he picks Mateo up, bouncing the toddler in his arms. "Can't I be happy?"

  
Laura, being her snoopy self, was listening to his heart so she laughs, "You're so in love. He just turned 30, Cora, remember?"

  
"Oh right! So... you found "the one"?" Cora quickly glances back at Derek, wiggling her eyebrows. "Why didn't you bring 'em along? Introduce us."

  
"Tell us a name first," Laura persists, leaning towards him resting against the island. But as Derek continues to keep quiet, Laura's eyes widen as if she understands why Derek finally accepted the invite to come visit his family for a Holiday. "You came to New York to see that person, didn't you?"

  
Derek sighs and tells her, "Yes," because there's really no sue in lying to a family of wolves. Even Mateo, the little pup, would be able to hear Derek's heart beat. If his heart is being so conspicuous now, he doesn't know how he is supposed to endure his family when Stiles comes over for dinner.

  
"Do we have to come with you on a hunt for this person?" Laura grins, pinching his cheek, which is when he realises that he's probably blushing.

"No. I'm fine. I'm going to go get changed now." Derek places Mateo down on the floor where he waddles over to his mom's leg. Laura tells Derek where his room is, her teasing smile still spread across her face which Derek ignores.

  
His room, just like the rest of Laura's home, is beautifully decorated and very grand. His whole family runs an extremely successful renovation company, so it isn't surprising that the whole home is extremely nice. He thinks about Stiles working for his family, which is weird, but by the looks of things, Stiles seems to do a very good job. Laura's even told him that Stiles is the personal interior designer for quite a number of rich New Yorkers, living in Manhattan, which is something that Derek didn't think twice about when Laura first told him, but now it is something that makes Derek very proud to hear.

  
He takes a nice shower in his guest bathroom, and then changes into the nice, expensive looking shirt that Cora sent him for his birthday. He walks downstairs to see that some guests had already arrived for dinner. He puts right the collar on his shirt, feeling quite fancy, and as if he sort of fits in with his family for once.

 

"Derek!" His mother calls and dashes up to him. She's just arrived, so she's still wearing her coat, but she needs to hug her son more than she needs to take her coat off. It has been about a year since he's seen his family in person. "Oh, you smell nice," she states as she embraces him. "I am angry with you. You need to visit more. Even if Cora says you should stay in California, you shouldn't listen to her."

 

"Why does everyone think that I hate him or something?" Cora groans, approaching their mother and taking her coat for her. "Derek, I'm sorry if I am not very good at showing my love. You aren't either, though."

 

"I understand," Derek smiles at his sister before giving his mom a kiss on the cheek. "You look great, mom."

  
"Thank you, dear. I do like this colour on you," she says, admiring his shirt. "So, how was your thirtieth birthday?"

  
"It was fine," he says, avoiding the soul mate question.

  
"Ah. You're still not one for talking. You're just like your father. I'll get some answers out of you later tonight once we get some alcohol in you."

  
Cora laughs as she hangs up the coat. "Good luck, mom."

  
Derek sighs, really wishing he could just figure things out with Stiles without his family getting involved-- well at least without his family getting involved for the first little while, because they're going to get involved sooner than later, no matter how hard Derek tries to keep them out of it. When the doorbell rings again, Derek feels his heart skip a beat because there's a great possibility that it's Stiles at the door, but as Cora answers it, he composes himself again because it's just the McCalls.

  
Scott and Allison got married right after college. Allison works for the Hale's business as well, so his whole family was invited to the wedding. Derek, of course, didn't go. Allison walks in the home, holding their daughter, who Derek doesn't know the name of. Scott walks in right after her, taking his coat off, and also taking Allison's coat off for her when Cora grabs their daughter from Allison's arms.

  
"Derek?" Scott catches eyes with him and is confused for a moment until he breaks into his classic grin. "It's so good to see you! I didn't know you were coming this year."

  
Derek is surprised when Scott even gives him a hug. He isn't surprised, however, when Allison does not; she simply says hello, and lets Laura drag her off to the dining room. "I didn't know either," Derek admits to Scott. "It was sort of a last minute thing."

  
Scott's smile is so wide that there are crinkles under his eyes. Derek had never even thought that Scott would be one to miss him so much. "You just turned thirty, right?" Derek nods. "Wow. Cool. So, what was the whole "soul-mate hour" like?"

  
"It was..." Derek can't decide on how to explain it to Scott. Stiles' is Scott's best friend, so he figures that he should get on Scott's good side. Scott is a part of the Hale's pack, after all. "I haven't exactly told anyone yet who it is."

  
"Okay," Scott raises an eyebrow. "Can you tell me?"

  
Derek nods. He can trust Scott, even if they haven't seen each other since Scott's high school graduation, which was five years ago. "I sort of came here to see him. I haven't seen him for years." Derek still is hesitant to openly say that Stiles is his soul mate, because he hasn't said it out loud yet, and he's still trying to process it. By telling Scott this simple info, it's enough to narrow the answer down to only a couple boys. Basically everyone moved to New York for some reason after high school.

  
"Hm," Scott nods, squinting at Derek, trying to figure him out.

  
"Derek and Scott, come help set the table before the rest of the guests arrive," Laura calls from the kitchen.

  
Derek nods towards the kitchen and then the two of them do as they are told. They set the vast table, listening to Laura and Allison talk about their kids and mom stuff, which is how Derek finally learns that Allison and Scott's daughter's name is Topanga. Derek thinks it's a weird name, but as he looks at the little girl, who's smiling sweetly, kindly letting Mateo play with her stuffed wolf, and he figures that the name suits her.

  
After he and Scott finish setting the table, Derek takes Topanga and Mateo into the family room so that they can roll around on the soft carpet. It's also quieter in there and less crowded, which Derek likes. He lies down on his stomach as he plays with the kids. Kids are his weakness; they're some of the only people who can really get him to smile, which is why he became a teacher. He knows that Mateo just turned two a few weeks ago, but Topanga seems a bit younger. He figures that she may be around one. He's so busy with them and their adorable giggles that he doesn't even notice when Stiles arrives until he is suddenly walking into the room, beaming at Derek with his stupid grin.

  
Derek freezes once he sees Stiles. Stiles, who still looks too young; who has messy bed-head hair that is apparently styled like that purposely and Derek hates to admit that he loves it. "Hey Derek," Stiles greets, sitting down on the carpet beside Mateo. "Hey buddy," Stiles says, poking Mateo in the tummy which causes him to giggle, "Happy thanksgiving. I really love your turkey painting on the fridge."

  
"Thank you," Mateo mumbles. He seems to have Derek's quiet trait, but apparently he definitely has a better artistic talent. Derek saw the turkey painting earlier, which is quite well done for a two year old, he must admit.

  
Topanga smiles at Stiles. He pokes her dimples before getting out a bag of mini cookies from his pocket. He opens it up and hands Topanga the bag, which makes her happier than ever. Stiles gives Derek a little wink, "This secret stays between us." Topanga crawls over into Stiles' lap, and he lets her eat her cookies happily. She even kindly shares some with Mateo without even having to be told to do so. Derek is pretty amazed by how sweet she is for just a small child. "So," Stiles says to Derek, "I haven't seen you for a long time. How've you been? Is the magnificent world of teaching doing you good?" Of course Stiles is aware that Derek is a teacher back in California.

  
"It's good," Derek nods, his voice coming out much higher than he had expected. He coughs, clearing his throat. "I hear everything's going good with you."

  
"Yeah. I have this really sweet penthouse that I occasionally use as a show home. But right now I'm just using it as my home, so it's quite messy and full of Topanga and Mateo's toys. These two always love coming over. Isn't that right, Teo?"

  
Mateo nods as he play's with Derek's facial hair. "I wish I could spend more time with them," Derek smiles, looking into the eyes of Mateo. "I wasn't even aware of Topanga's name until about ten minutes ago."

  
That causes Stiles to smile. Derek's heart definitely is beating way too fast, because Stiles is not only smiling at him, Stiles is smiling at him because he said something apparently amusing. Luckily, Stiles is one of the rare guests who is not a werewolf, so it's not like he can hear his heartbeat.

 

"Oh no!" Scott yells from the doorway of the living room, and Derek remembers that Scott can hear his heart.

  
"What is it?" Stiles asks, turning around and looking up at Scott, but not with concern, just amusement.

  
Scott stares at Derek, almost glaring. "Seriously? Stiles?" It appears that Derek is completely obvious in his likings. Derek can't help but smile at Scott behind Stiles' back. Well, he smiles until Mateo pulls his hair too hard. "Derek, can I talk to you for a moment?" Scott says, completely ignoring how confused Stiles is.

  
"What did I do now?" Stiles asks.

  
"Yeah, what did you do this time?" Isaac's voice is suddenly present in the conversation as well when he approaches Scott. He's looking directly at Stiles with a little smile on his face until he meets Derek's eye. "Derek, it's been a while," Isaac says.

  
"Hi," Derek says back, wondering why Isaac is even here.

  
Stiles stands up, taking Topanga with him, ignoring the way Scott glares at the cookies in her hands. He skips over to Isaac happily. "Laura is wearing the sweater you bought her by the way," Isaac tells him.

  
To Derek's surprise, Stiles presses a kiss on Isaac's cheek. "I knew she'd like it! You picked it out, of course."

  
Scott shoots his gaze back to Derek, who's staring up at Stiles and Isaac from his spot on the floor with a sort of sad expression on his face. Scott frowns and whispers, "This is what I needed to talk to you about." Isaac and Stiles are too busy cooing over Topanga that they luckily aren't paying attention to Derek and Scott. Scott nods towards the doorway, which leads to the library, which is where most of the guests are at the moment. Derek takes the indication, and gets up, letting Mateo be watched by Stiles and Isaac, who barely notice when Derek follows Scott out of the room. Scott leads Derek through the library, where he has to occasionally say hello to guests, and Scott leads him to a book shelf which he pushes open like a trap door, revealing a hidden washroom. Derek thinks that it's a weird room to place behind a hidden bookshelf door, but he lets Scott drag him in and shut the door behind him anyways.

  
"Okay, I know it's weird that I brought you in here but it's the only sound proof room in the house," Scott tells him.

  
Derek doesn't really care and he decides to get right to the point. "Since when is Stiles dating Isaac?!"

  
"They started dating last December." Scott glares at himself in the mirror. "Man, this sucks for you. I haven't even had the chance to explain to Stiles about the whole werewolf soul mate thing."  
"I didn't get to choose this," Derek mutters, feeling angry at Scott, even though this is no one's fault. The only one at fault here is Derek, for forgetting about Stiles, and it's also the universe's fault for waiting until Derek was thirty to inform him that he and Stiles are really meant to be.

  
Scott stares at Derek through the mirror's reflection for a good few moments. "I can see it now."

  
"See what?" Derek furrows his eyebrows together.

  
"You and Stiles would make a really awesome couple, actually. His jolliness would be enough to balance off your grumpiness."

  
Derek doesn't know how to respond to that. "How do I get him away from Isaac?"

  
"Be Stiles' friend first."

  
"Scott, I'm only going to be here for a week," Derek reminds him. Would a week be enough time to befriend Stiles and possibly win his heart over against Isaac?

  
There's a knock at the door, but Derek doesn't have time to answer it because Lydia walks in anyways. "Why are you two in here?" Lydia asks, pursing her lips which are as equally glossy as Derek remembers. Derek honestly forgot about her existence for a while there.

  
Once Lydia shuts the door behind her, Scott spills everything to her and Derek mentally slaps himself him the face. "Stiles and Derek are soul mates. Derek came to NYC to see him, but Stiles is dating Isaac which is a huge problem."

  
Lydia rolls her eyes, pushing Scott to the side so that she can fix up her makeup at the mirror. "That's wonderful. I can't help you."

 

"Lydia-" Scott starts wining but she shushes him.

  
Then there's another knock at the door and Allison pokes her head in. "There you guys are. What are you all doing?" She lets herself in and then goes to shut the door behind her again but Laura is poking her head in as well. Allison lets her in, and then finally the door is closed. Derek makes an effort to lock it this time.

  
"Why are you guys all hiding out in here?" Laura asks, looking at her younger brother with suspicion.

  
"Stiles and Derek are soul mates," Lydia informs her nonchalantly.

  
"Awe!" Laura squeals, running and hugging her brother. "Stiles is so great! And this means that you'll have to visit more often. Oh, I need to go inform the family! Mom will be so happy. She loves Stiles-"

 

"Laura," Derek glares, shaking her off of him.

  
"Wait, what about Isaac?" Allison frowns. "He and Stiles are good for each other."

  
"That's true," Laura nods, still clutching onto her brother's arm.

  
"Exactly! What are we supposed to do?" Scott groans, sighing dramatically and sitting down on the toilet seat.

  
"I don't need your guys' help," Derek glares at all of them.

  
"Oh honey, yes you do," Lydia smirks.

  
There's another knock on the door. Derek glares at Allison as she goes to open it, revealing Jackson, who is someone that Derek really did not expect to see. Well, he figures, at least it's not Stiles or Isaac. Or worse, Stiles and Isaac.

  
Jackson stares at all of them with extreme confusion. "I don't want to know. I just want to use the toilet. I'll be done in a second." Jackson proceeds to shove Scott of the toilet while he removes his pants. Everyone looks away and tries to ignore him.

  
"Jackson, seriously?" Lydia rolls her eyes as she continues to reapply more lip-gloss.

  
"Laura and Ethan may have a big home, but there's only three washrooms and one of them is theirs, which no one is allowed in, and the other one is apparently Derek's for the week so no one is allowed in there either," Jackson tells her, quickly doing his business.

  
Laura completely ignores Jackson as she stares up at Derek, "Wow. Stiles really will be the best brother in law."

  
"What on earth are you talking about?" Jackson asks, pulling his pants up.

  
7 Laura continues to ignore him, "You're just too awkward to win him over. We'll have to somehow make him think that you're really awesome so he'll have to win you over."

  
"Please. Stiles smiles and Derek is already won over," Scott grins from his spot on the bathroom floor.

  
Jackson politely asks Lydia to move over before going to wash his hands at the sink. "Great. Are you trying to hook him up with Stilinski?"

  
"Can we all just go eat dinner like a normal group of people?" Derek feels his ears go red.

  
"Soon," Allison assures.

  
"If you want to hook up with Stilinski, all you have to do is be pretty smart, talk to him about smart things that will confuse him, and then buy him food with superhero designs on the box or on the food, if possible," Jackson tells Derek.

 

Lydia nods, "Hm. Yeah, that actually should do the trick."

  
Derek presses his lips together in a thin line, looking to Scott and Allison for help because the two of them seem to be the only normal ones in the crowded washroom. Scott finally stands up, "You'll figure it out, Derek. If it's truly meant to be, it will happen."

  
Derek sighs, reminding himself that he and Stiles will be alright. He doesn't need to rush anything. "I'm going now," Derek informs the room.

  
"Me too. This is weird," Allison smiles, opening the door again and walking out. Derek follows, and so does the rest of the group. They decide to ignore the weird glances from the rest of the guests, and they all go to sit down at the dinner table, finally.

  
Derek unfortunately is sat down next to Isaac. Laura is the one who chose where everyone sat, so Derek doesn't understand why he's sitting next to Isaac, but his mood lightens up a bit once Stiles is seated right across from him and Isaac. Derek watches Stiles' every move; he watches him sit down, not tucking his chair in, sitting on the very edge of the seat, leaning forward obnoxiously and talking to Scott, who's sitting to his right. Derek's not paying attention to what they're saying, he's just watching the way Stiles' lips move, and he's staring at the moles all over his face, even his neck, which looks soft, and he wonders if it is soft; he wonders just how soft it would be against his finger tips and he also wonders if the rest of his skin is soft and covered in moles.

  
Derek snaps out of his day dream when Isaac taps his hand. "Yea?" Derek asks, and then he's suddenly confused as Isaac holds his hand.

  
"We're saying grace, Derek," Stiles informs him, his stupid grin plastered onto his face.

  
Derek nods. He had forgotten that Laura converted to Christianity when she and Ethan got together. He admires her ability to believe in something and be so dedicated. He's tried to believe in a god, but he just couldn't find any meaning. He envies how easily she can announce that she knows there's a greater power; he's always wished for something to hold onto like that. He holds Isaac's hand, and takes Laura's hand as well, as they say grace. Derek has never believed in any god, yet as they say grace, his sister squeezes his hand, he smells the comfort of the family surrounding him; he can see Stiles smiling peacefully at the table cloth as he holds hands with Scott and Lydia, Stiles' stupid brown eyes slowly gazing up at Derek, and suddenly, as Derek holds eye contact with Stiles for the remainder of grace, Derek realises that he has something to believe in.

  
"Okay, dig in!" Laura announces once grace is over. Derek holds his and Stiles' eye contact for a few more seconds until Stiles is distracted by food.

  
Cora and Ethan really did a wonderful job with dinner. Derek enjoys himself, and allows himself to be involved in family conversations. He is happily discussing recent baseball games with a few people until he feels someone playing footsie with him and he almost does a spit take with his glass of water. It's obviously not Lydia, because then he'd feel a heel pressed against him, plus her legs are too short to reach across the table. The only other possibility is Stiles, who's smiling mischievously, pretending to be listening to the table talk. Derek tries his best to remain calm, and try not to think about why Stiles is playing footsie with him. It suddenly makes sense when Stiles gives Isaac a flirty smile, which Isaac is confused about but returns anyways. Derek wants to laugh, because Stiles thinks his leg is Isaac's, but he doesn't kick Stiles in the shin or anything, he just rubs his leg against Stiles' for the remainder of dinner.

  
***

  
Derek allowed himself to get stupidly drunk, no thanks to Laura. Once Mateo was put to bed, and Topanga fell asleep in Laura's room, all the adults started drinking. Yet, Derek still was acting completely ridiculous compared to the rest of them, and that may be because he never gets drunk, ever, or it may be because of Stiles' presence, he doesn't know, and when he started drinking, he didn't really care.

  
Derek finds himself laughing with his sister and Scott about a kid in his class who was seriously convinced that Derek was a werewolf so he started bringing "protective gear", but apparently he didn't do his research so he came to class with a necklace made from garlic cloves. Laura, being a happy drunk, found this quite hilarious and she had to sit down from laughing so hard, but Scott was moping about how one day his "little girl will grow up to do stupid things in middle school like date boys!" Scott pouted around, insisting on going upstairs to wake Topanga, but Laura assured him that it would be a bad idea, and he should let his baby sleep whenever possible.

  
"Stop moping," Derek told Scott, rolling his eyes.

  
"You'll understand one day when you and Stiles have kids of your own, Derek," Scott mutters, which instantly brings Derek's mood up because he starts thinking about he and Stiles' future children.

  
"Stiles and Derek are going to have children together?" Isaac is suddenly standing at Scott's side. Derek hates the way Isaac somehow manages to show up at random, especially when he's not needed. Isaac grins at Derek, who's frowning at him, "Are you sure you could handle Stiles' children?"

  
"Who's taking care of my children?" Stiles shows up too, and if Derek wasn't drunk, he'd probably just leave and go to his room or go talk to anyone else, but the alcohol kind of stops him from feeling embarrassment.

  
"Not me," Scott frowns, "I have to take care of Topanga until my dying day. I have no time for your children."

  
Stiles gives Scott a weird look, squinting his eyes, but he still smiles, "Gee, thanks Scotty."

 

Laura swings one of her arms around Stiles, and the other around Derek, saying, "I can't wait to take care of everyone's children."

  
Derek tries to get away from Laura while Stiles lets his head fall against shoulder. "My kids will be awesome. And even if we don't work together anymore in the future, I'll still make sure that you're their only babysitter. Well, besides your mom, maybe." Stiles' eyes flicker over to Derek, "You seem like you'd be a good babysitter too. You take care of kids for a living."

  
Laura winks at Derek then says to Stiles, "I know we'll always be here for you and your family, Stiles."

  
"I'm not technically related to you guys," Scott points out, "but I'm in this family too, okay."

  
Stiles laughs at how sappy Scott is and he reaches his arms out to let Scott fall into his arms for a sweet hug. "I know Scott. You're my brother."

  
Scott sniffles against Stiles' shoulder, "I can't wait until Topanga has a brother as awesome as you."

  
Finally, Allison steps up telling her husband that it's getting late and they should take Topanga home. Once she mentions Topanga, Scott start starts sniffling again and he lets her take him home, but not before he gives Stiles, Laura, Isaac, and even Derek, a hug goodbye.

  
"Man, I love him," Stiles says to no one in particular as he sits down on a couch in the Hale library once Scott has left. That is the moment that Derek realizes he truly wants to take part in this little family that they've got going on. He wants to be Stiles' family, and even though they're soul mates, he's never going to actually be a part of him if he doesn't step up his game, now.  
But instead of saying something even remotely flirty, Derek takes a seat beside him, informing him that his fly is undone.

  
"Oh?" Stiles looks down and then quickly zips his pants up. "Thanks, Derek."

  
Isaac is staring at them suspiciously, but he keeps quiet. Derek decides to ignore Isaac and he continues speaking to Stiles, "There's this one kid in my class who purposely zips his fly down so that he can show off all of his super hero underwear. I've suggested sweat pants or pants that don't have a zipper in the front, to his mother but she claims that little Johnny will just pull those down to his knees. He really likes his underwear. He's very proud." Derek mentally slaps himself because that is the lamest thing to say, plus he makes a mental note to stop talking about his class so much.

 

But Stiles doesn't seem to mind. In fact, he laughs. "The question is, what kind of superhero underwear is he wearing?"

 

"He usually sticks to marvel. But one time I think he was wearing Batman."

  
"He seems like an awesome kid," Stiles smiles, bumping his arm against Derek's. Derek is ashamed by how nervous he is around Stiles. There once was a time where he felt so superior to him, the skinny and defenseless Stiles, but now he suddenly seemed stronger and wiser, and Derek felt like he, himself, was the defenseless one.

 

"Derek," Laura interrupts, "how did you explain to your boss that you needed a week off to go to New York?"

  
"Yea. I can imagine maybe one or two days off to see family, but not a whole week," Stiles comments, actually interested in what Derek has to say. Derek is so astonished by the fact that Stiles truly finds him interesting; not many people do.

  
"I lied and said that my uncle died," Derek tells them, his tone completely casual. Stiles bursts out in laughter, slapping his hand against Derek's thigh because he apparently cannot contain his body when he laughs; Derek smiles at this. What Derek had said wasn't even funny, but maybe it was more about the way he said it.

  
Laura just shakes her head, "Loser." Isaac then takes this moment to squish himself between Stiles and Derek.

  
"So you're a teacher now, huh?" Isaac asks Derek while he takes Stiles' hand in his. "Is there any cute coworkers that have caught your eye?"

  
"No," Derek says, looking right at Stiles because there will never be anyone else in the entire universe as beautiful as Stiles. He looks back at him, his mouth hanging open just slightly.

  
"That's unfortunate. It would be fun to have coworkers that you could sneak around with and maybe fool around with in classrooms during recess."

  
Stiles cracks a smile at Isaac's comment. Derek is impressed that he isn't glaring as he watches Stiles lean against Isaac's shoulder. "How's New York working for you, Isaac?" Derek asks, yet his eyes are still locked on Stiles' moles.

  
"Fine." Isaac is biting his lip and staring at Derek in a suspicious way, as if he just knows. If that were the case, Derek wouldn't be surprised because he knows the way that both Laura's and Ethan's hearts react when they're around each other; it's too obvious, really, and even quite adorable. But as Stiles' boyfriend, Derek doesn't think that Isaac would see it as adorable. "I work with the NYPD."

  
"Are the two of you living together?" Derek decides to ask to try and get a feel of where their relationship stands, exactly. Of course, he wants Stiles, but he also feels sort of guilty for having to break up the couple.

  
"Yeah. Isaac moved in with me just a couple weeks ago, actually," Stiles is the one who replies, yet neither of them look smitten enough for a couple who's just moved in together to "start their lives together." Stiles pokes Isaac's cheek, trying to hide any evidence that living together isn't working out so well. "This one uses all the hot water."

  
"I don't want to be cold," Isaac whispers, quickly turning his head to Stiles. Stiles' grin fades away as he remembers that Isaac's dad used to lock him in the freezer as a punishment. He places his hand on Isaac's thigh before turning back to Derek.

  
"I suppose I could turn the heater on for once. I don't like wasting any extra money with that because I could simply use fuzzy socks and blankets to warm up," Stiles tells Derek, who's smiling bashfully at the idea of Stiles wearing bright fuzzy socks, most likely sliding around on the floor.

  
"Stiles, we live in a penthouse in Manhattan. I'm pretty sure that we can afford to turn the heater up." Isaac is rolling his eyes.

  
"I think we have enough energy to turn the heat up ourselves," Stiles licks his lips, leaning his head on Isaac's shoulder. Derek's expression remains calm, but inside he feels a shot of jealousy, and by the way that Isaac is staring at Derek, Derek understands that Isaac in fact knows.

  
Laura finally speaks up. Derek had almost forgotten that she was there so he jumps when she spoke. "Isaac, sweetie, can you do me a favour? Can you come help me clean up the kitchen?"

  
Isaac hesitates, but stands. "Of course. It's getting late, so I think we'll leave soon, too." Stiles doesn't seem like he wants to leave, but he has to listen to his boyfriend.

  
Derek and Stiles remain quiet while Isaac and Laura are in the next room. Stiles is rubbing his temples and Derek is waiting until he hears Isaac and Laura starting a conversation to make sure that neither of them are listening in.

  
"Don't take this the wrong way," Derek says quietly, turning his body so that he's facing Stiles, "but you don't seem very happy."

  
"I am happy," Stiles says, and he isn't lying, yet there's still a sense of restlessness to it. Stiles can't even pretend that Derek doesn't notice. "I mean, I guess things haven't been as awesome as I thought they would be when Isaac moved in, but we'll be fine."

  
"If you ever need a break, just come to California for a weekend. My house isn't big but I make very promising waffles," Derek says, in attempt to reach out to Stiles so that he knows Derek is capable of caring about him.

  
Stiles smiles, "Derek, wouldn't that be weird? I mean, that sounds like a fantastic offer, but we have never been friends, exactly."

  
"I guess I'm just trying to say.... that the door is always open."

  
***

  
Eventually, Stiles and Isaac leave, along with all the other guests. Derek hugs his family goodbye, shakes Isaac's hand, and then is taken back when Stiles jumps in his arms, hugging him nicely. Derek hugs him back, of course, even letting his chin fall onto his shoulder for a few seconds. Stiles quickly does the same before pulling back. The two of them don't say a verbal goodbye; they just look at each other and smile. Stiles is responding to his invitation, and Derek knows that it is going to work out.


End file.
